Chapter 178
Chapter 178
The boatman raised his head, and his appearance startled Wang Weiwei. Half of his face had been stripped down to bare bone. The other half was riddled with pits and scars.
“You want to cross the river?”
His voice was hoarse. Leaning on his oar, he struggled to his feet.
“This river is not easily crossed. The water is extremely dangerous. Look at my body. I became like this after touching it.”
Fear spread across everyone’s face. Zhang Ru and Li Wei, the sharper members of the group, were less convinced. The theme of this chamber was lies. The boatman might not be telling the truth.
“That is why you must take my boat if you wish to cross.”
A strange smile spread across the boatman’s face.
“My fare, however, is not cheap.”
“What do you want?” Li Wei asked.
“It is simple. I am old, and my body has become like this. I cannot continue working much longer, but this river cannot be left without a boatman. One of you must remain behind as my apprentice, care for me until I pass away, then continue ferrying people across.”
Li Wei and the others frowned.
“Can we pay some other way?” Li Wei asked.
“No. That is the only price.”
The instant the boatman finished speaking, the boat lurched under his feet. He lost his balance and fell into the river.
“Aaaah! Save me!”
He thrashed in the water as white vapor hissed off his body. Within a few breaths, he sank beneath the surface. Seconds later, a skeleton floated up.
“What kind of river is this? It’s sulfuric acid!” Big Gold Tooth swore.
Even sulfuric acid was not that powerful. This water had reduced a man to bones in the span of a few breaths.
“This proves he wasn’t lying. The river really is dangerous,” Li Wei said.
“But doesn’t that mean we can cross now?”
Everyone froze, then erupted in delight. Of course! With the boatman dead, there was no one left to demand a fare.
They happily boarded the boat. Only Liu Ye continued staring strangely at the skeleton floating on the river.
“Brother Liu? What is it?”
“Nothing. There’s just something strange about that skeleton.”
Liu Ye could not explain precisely what felt wrong. It simply seemed out of place.
Zhang Ru immediately took out pencil and paper and sketched the skeleton.
Rule One of Clinging to a Powerful Backer: the backer is always right. If he has doubts, then something must be wrong.
And if Zhang Ru could not see it, that only meant she was too stupid to notice.
Everyone climbed aboard. Since no one else knew how to row, the task naturally fell to Liu Ye.
“Brother Liu, do you really know how?”
After everything they had seen Liu Ye do, Li Wei felt compelled to ask.
“How could I not? I’m telling you, I have a gift when it comes to driving. No matter what it is, I can handle it after a few tries. Once, while I was traveling, our driver suddenly had a problem. In the end, I drove the vehicle safely to our destination.”
Everyone relaxed at those words.
Only Zhang Ru sensed something was wrong. If the driver had a problem, why would they let a passenger drive? And from the sound of it, Liu Ye did not even have a license.
“B-Brother Liu, if I may ask one more question… What exactly is your standard for arriving safely?”
“Mm… We were still alive.”
Everyone was speechless.
For the sake of their safety, Liu Ye was forcibly stripped of his right to pilot the boat.
Their stated reason was that Liu Ye had worked extremely hard throughout the journey, so they should handle a small matter like rowing themselves.
They decided to take turns. The opposite bank did not seem especially far away. At their pace, they could arrive in half a day.
Liu Ye was deeply gratified. See? This was the reward for being a good person. Other people would voluntarily look out for you.
Big Gold Tooth took the first shift. The boat looked much like those shown on television. He was clumsy at first, but after a little practice, he managed to get it moving. The only problem was that they traveled rather slowly.
Everyone else stayed in the middle of the boat, terrified that the river water might touch them. Liu Ye alone sat along the outer edge, intending to shield the others from wind and spray.
Everything went smoothly at first. Trouble began when Wang Weiwei took her turn. As she held the oar, a sudden wave splashed toward her. Afraid it would land on her body, she instinctively let go.
Splash!
The oar fell into the river.
“Damn it!”
Everyone swore at once.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to.”
Tears immediately spilled from Wang Weiwei’s eyes. She hugged her knees and sobbed as though she were the most wronged person in the world.
Only Zhang Ru noticed the faint upward curl at the corners of her mouth.
“Tch. So she was affected after all.”
Zhang Ru was not trying to excuse her. She simply knew Wang Weiwei extremely well. The woman might once have harbored thoughts of harming others, but she had never possessed the nerve to act on them. The change was most likely an effect of the potion.
Of course, the potion only magnified the Desire already inside a person. That meant Wang Weiwei truly wanted them dead.
Seeing everyone nearing the edge of collapse, Liu Ye knew it was time for him to step forward.
A capable person could thrive anywhere. At a crucial moment like this, they needed him to act.
“All right, stop arguing. It’s only an oar. What’s the big deal?”
“You have a solution?” Li Wei and the others asked in surprise.
“Of course!”
Liu Ye raised the necklace and shouted, “Airbag!”
Whoosh!
Steward Wang appeared in Liu Ye’s hand, completely bewildered.
“Hold on. I only just died.”
There used to be a decent interval between deaths. Why was he being called back so soon? Couldn’t Liu Ye at least give him a cooldown period?
“So? No one said you couldn’t die again.”
Liu Ye tied Steward Wang up with a red cord, then used him as an oar and began paddling toward the bank.
Everyone was speechless.
What kind of demonic maneuver was this?
“You bastard! I’ll take you down with me!”
Steward Wang grabbed Liu Ye’s arms, clung to him with all his strength, and hurled them both into the river. He knew nothing about the water, but he intended to drown Liu Ye!
Hiss…
White vapor rose. Liu Ye vanished into the river without so much as a scream.
Everyone stared in shock. They had never imagined someone as powerful as Liu Ye would die like this.
“We’re finished!”
They had no oar, and now Liu Ye was dead. They were truly trapped in a hopeless situation.
Only Zhang Ru remained calm. Big Gold Tooth looked at her strangely.
“Aren’t you that brat’s devoted admirer? Why aren’t you reacting when he just died?”
“Because I don’t believe Brother Liu would die like that.”
Rule Two of Clinging to a Powerful Backer: the backer will never fall before rookies like them. If he appears to do so, refer back to Rule One.
“You seriously think he can’t die? You’ve turned him into a god. He’s still human!” Big Gold Tooth sneered.
Zhang Ru said nothing. Instead, she took out her sketchbook and studied it carefully. If the expert had said something was wrong, then something was definitely wrong. She simply had not seen it yet.
The others crowded around to look.
“You actually drew the skeleton? That’s twisted.” Zhang Yanyan rubbed her arms. What kind of people had she surrounded herself with?
“Wait… Something is wrong!”
Zhang Shun suddenly seized the sketchbook. After one look, he asked in astonishment, “Is this the skeleton you drew earlier? Are you certain it’s an exact copy?”
“I’m certain.” Zhang Ru nodded. She had that much confidence in herself.
“Then something is very wrong.”